Kathmandu, September 19, 2012 — On September 17-19, 2012, expert speakers, donors, and participants joined the Asia Foundation in Kathmandu, Nepal for “Capturing Lessons Learned, Charting the Way Forward.” The three-day counter-trafficking in persons (TIP) workshop, hosted by The Asia Foundation’s Women’s Empowerment program in collaboration with The Asia Foundation in Nepal, featured emerging issues, trends, and approaches to combatting trafficking in persons across Asia.

Seeking to challenge existing frameworks, participants presented on topics in the anti-trafficking field, including legal frameworks, the latest research methodologies, combatting trafficking in conflict-affected environments, and trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation. Chief of Party at The Asia Foundation in Nepal Counter Trafficking in Persons program Nandita Baruah and Nepali researcher Dr. Meena Poudel provided insight on how to go beyond the established “4P” approach (prosecution, prevention, protection, partnerships) to address the gendered and social inequalities that underpin the trade in persons. Senior Law Enforcement Advisor at U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division (Nepal) James Larry Kelley and Research Director at Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, University of Southern California Mark Latonero discussed usage of real-time information and communications technologies in the enforcement and capture of traffickers.

The workshop drew strong support from donors including Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid), Department for International Development (DFID), and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as speakers and participants. Bronwyn Wex (AusAID), Maria Barron (USAID), and Karuna Onta (DFID) shared perspectives on anti-trafficking programs, views on comparative advantage among donors in the anti-trafficking space, and future priority programming areas.

Utilizing a governance and empirically-driven approach, The Asia Foundation has been a recognized leader in the fight against human trafficking in Asia for more than 15 years. With offices in numerous trafficking source and destination countries, including Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, the Foundation has implemented country-specific programs and regional initiatives to reduce trafficking and aid its victims.